


Sunshine

by Esselle



Series: Wasteland [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fallout, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 14:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10026902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esselle/pseuds/Esselle
Summary: ' "I was just… wondering… what those things are. The big white things." Shouyou leaned back and pointed up at the sky. "Those."Kageyama looked up. "The… clouds? How do you not know what clouds are?""How am I supposed to know what they are?" Shouyou asked. "I've never seen them before!" '--Watching the sky.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A couple tiny _Wasteland_ AU scene ideas I fell in love with, thanks to @slashbringingtrasher on Tumblr!

"Kageyama… what are those things?"

Kageyama grunted, but didn't answer. He was preoccupied, and not particularly concerned with whatever Shouyou was curious about. He much more cared about hunting their dinner for that night, because thanks to the Vault Dweller's bottomless stomach, food supplies were running low.

He had spied a hare sitting unsuspectingly in the brush, and through the scope of his rifle, was pleased to see it looked relatively RAD-free. He thought he could make out a small, gleaming third eye nestled underneath its main right eye, but it was still probably better than a mole rat. He steadied his breathing, took aim, and started to squeeze his finger on the trigger.

"Kageyama!" Shouyou shouted suddenly, tugging hard on his arm, right as Kageyama fired—his aim went wild as the gun was yanked around, firing horrifyingly close to Shouyou's head. The smaller man leapt away, clapping his hands over his ears, eyes squeezed shut.

"IDIOT!" Kageyama bellowed. "I could have shot you!"

Shouyou sank into a very sad crouch, low to the earth. "I didn't see! I was just—I was looking—"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Kageyama continued to tirade. _"Pay more attention_ to your surroundings."

"But I am!" Shouyou wailed. "That's what I _was_ doing." He blinked up at Kageyama, eyes wide, face red.

Kageyama deflated. It was useless, pointless to tell Shouyou to pay attention, because he had no idea what he was supposed to pay attention _to._ He'd only been out of the Vault for a few, short days, and every single thing he saw was new to him. It seemed he only paid attention to the ones that didn't matter.

"Okay," Kageyama said, "listen carefully." He held up his rifle. "From now on, when I'm using this, you stay _silent._ No talking, no moving, _at all."_

Shouyou wrinkled his nose. "Do I have to hold my breath?"

Kageyama considered this. "Yes."

"Aw, Kageyama—"

"Shouyou!" Kageyama said sharply, and the Vault Dweller fell silent. "If you get in front of the gun when I'm not expecting it, I could kill you! So until you learn to stay the fuck put, _no arguments._ "

Shouyou wrapped his arms around his legs. "Okay."

 _"Okay._ Great." Kageyama sighed. "What were you trying to ask me about, before?"

When Shouyou spoke, it was into his kneecaps. "I was just… wondering… what those things are. The big white things."

"What big white things?"

Shouyou leaned back, all the way, and pointed up at the sky. "Those."

Kageyama looked up. It was a bright, sunny day, the sky a pale, creamy blue. The wind rustled the leaves on the ground and the sparse tree branches, billowing endless, puffy white clouds across the sky.

"The… clouds?" Kageyama realized. "How do you not know what clouds are?"

"How am I supposed to know what those are?" Shouyou asked. "I've never seen them before!"

That was true, Kageyama supposed. The past two days had been cloudless. But today, for the first time since he'd met Shouyou, they'd emerged. Kageyama sat down, leaves crunching underneath his weight, to stare up at the sky.

"What are they?" Shouyou asked, after they'd been looking for some time, quiet against the backdrop of the breeze and occasional bird call. His voice was still a bit shy, likely from his embarrassment over getting yelled at.

"I just told you," Kageyama said. "They're clouds."

Shouyou gave him a withering look. Perhaps not so shy, after all. "I mean, what _are_ they, what are they made out of? Smoke?"

"Ah, no," Kageyama said. "Water. I think."

"What?!" Shouyou yelped. "Kageyama, that isn't water. Look at it."

"I know it doesn't _look_ like water, but—" Kageyama glared up at the clouds. "That's just what someone told me once! I was a kid, I don't remember, exactly."

"How come it doesn't fall down?" Shouyou demanded.

"It does, sometimes!"

"Uwaaaah!" Shouyou's eyes had gone wide again. "Like a really big shower."

"Yeah, kinda," Kageyama shrugged. "Come on, we need to keep moving." He stood, brushing some of the leaves off of his pants.

They continued walking, but he kept a closer eye on Shouyou, who kept glancing up, not watching where he was walking in the slightest. Kageyama wasn't sure yet, whether that was stupidity, or freedom.

*

It was some time after the incident with the Glowing One, and Shouyou's surgery and recovery, that Kageyama could be convinced to bring him out of the city walls and back into the Wasteland.

He had watched, as inconspicuously as possible, as Shouyou's skin returned to a healthy color, and his IV was taken out, and he took to trailing Kageyama and Yamaguchi around the clinic (he avoided Tsukishima, as much as possible). His skinny, wobbly legs strengthened again, and he got back to asking as many questions about everything he possibly could in no time.

Yamaguchi always answered, though he also often laughed. Kageyama was a fifty-fifty bet, depending on his mood. And Tsukishima fed Shouyou as much misinformation as he possibly could, before the other two caught on (around the time they noticed Shouyou had started referring to Nuka Cola as "bottles of jizz", seemingly for no reason).

"If you don't take him out eventually," Yamaguchi mentioned in passing one evening, while Kageyama helped him make dinner, "he's either going to run out on his own, or Tsukishima will toss him over the gate."

"I don't like any of these options," Kageyama said.

"Well," Yamaguchi said, "maybe pick the one that ends with him happy, and also not dead."

Kageyama grimaced. "Right."

So that night, he walked an incredibly excitable Shouyou through a job outline—showed him the path on the map, detailed their objective, and the kinds of encounters they may be facing, human or otherwise. Perhaps sensing the magnitude of the occasion, Shouyou even managed to hold his questions to the end (though there were a _lot_ of questions, once they got there).

The job would take two nights in total, escorting a party of traders to a nearby settlement. But by the time they went out, Shouyou was well prepared. More than that, he knew now what dangers the Wasteland could truly hold, how quickly it could violently and painfully end a life. He stuck near to Kageyama, was quiet when he needed to be, and curious when the coast was clear. Shouyou's presence seemed to put the traders in their group at ease, which was more than Kageyama could say for his own influence, despite the fact that he was supposed to be their protection. Perhaps it was because it was so blatantly obvious, that Shouyou meant no one any harm.

It was on their second night, returning to Smog City, that they ran into trouble. But this was a danger that couldn't be shot at or run from.

"Why do the clouds look like that?" Shouyou asked.

"Like what?" Kageyama asked, turning to look. He stopped walking.

The sky behind them had turned dark. It almost might have been a sign of heavy rain, but it had come on too fast, and Kageyama could see, as the storm rolled rapidly closer, flashes of yellow-green light crackling amongst the black clouds, every now and again.

He swore, loudly, and Shouyou turned to look at him in question.

"We've got to find shelter," Kageyama told him. "Come on, Shouyou, hurry!"

"Ka-Kageyama?" Shouyou asked, voice climbing higher with nerves, but Kageyama didn't respond. He snatched at the smaller man's arm, yanking him along behind them, casting another brief glance at the gathering clouds.

Radstorms were a rare and unnatural phenomenon, brought about by high speed winds scattering radioactive fallout across the terrain. They never lasted long, but being caught by one without any protective gear could prove deadly. It was terrible luck to encounter one on such a short journey, when they were so close to shelter. But there was no time to try and make it back to the city.

The storm caught up to them in the rubble outskirts of an old town. Kageyama was able to pry open the front door of a tiny diner, and they dove inside, right as the lightning started to crash down above them. The entire world was tinted sickly green, and the echo of thunder buzzed with a heavy, electric drone. Even inside, the effects could be felt.

Shouyou collapsed into one of the old, disused booths, his face pale. He looked like Kageyama felt. "What's going on…?" he asked, weakly.

"It's a radiation storm," Kageyama said. He felt bile rising in his throat, and tried to swallow it down. "We should be alright in here, just… try to wait it out." Shouyou nodded, laying his head down on his arms. He was shaking. "Here, hang on…"

He dragged his bag onto one of the tables, rummaging through it until he found what he wanted—a small gas mask that could be strapped around the head. He dropped into the seat next to Shouyou and passed it to him, helping him tie it around the back of his head when Shouyou's trembling fingers couldn't accomplish the task.

"What about you?" Shouyou asked. His voice was tinny and muffled, and he looked so funny with the big metal snout and goggle eyes covering his face that Kageyama couldn't help but snort. He tapped Shouyou softly on the top of his head.

"I'm fine," Kageyama told him. His stomach was churning and his throat burned, but he knew the symptoms would pass with the storm. "This isn't the worst I've had to deal with."

"Me—me either," Shouyou protested, and Kageyama detected a pout beneath the mask.

"I could just use the mask, then," he said.

Shouyou was quiet for a moment. "Well," he finally said, "if you don't _really_ need it…"

Kageyama shook his head, leaning back against the booth. "I don't really need it."

After a moment, he felt a weight pressing into his side, as Shouyou curled up into his side, hand tightening in his shirt.

"It's kind of—scary," came the small, filtered voice, "when the clouds are like this."

"It won't last long," Kageyama said. He raised a hand and pressed his palm to Shouyou's forehead. It was sweaty, but he was relieved to find the temperature didn't feel feverish. "We need to get you your own mask, in town." An extra expense they'd rarely ever use. But worth it.

"Ooh." Shouyou perked up. "Can I pick it out? Are there different kinds? Different colors? Do they have—"

"Be quiet," Kageyama said, and Shouyou fell silent, managing to wilt even when his expression couldn't be seen. "I'm trying not to puke," Kageyama told him. "We can talk about it later, though."

"Okay!" Shouyou said. Then, "Don't throw up on me."

Kageyama closed his eyes, and draped an arm around Shouyou's small form. It would be impossible to sleep, but this was, somehow, slightly comfortable, gas mask or no.

*

"Kageyama… the clouds are dark again."

A few weeks after the radiation storm, armed with an extra gas mask, Kageyama took Shouyou on another job. This was just the two of them, trail mapping, and it was a longer journey than the first. There was no firm time frame, and so the pace they set was moderate.

One morning dawned dim and chillier than most, and Shouyou woke Kageyama when the sky was barely beginning to lighten. Kageyama allowed him to take watches now, and so he'd been awake, alert until the morning came.

Kageyama blinked, and Shouyou's face blurred into view, inches from his own, brown eyes staring at him nervously.

"Do I need to wear my mask?" Shouyou whispered to him.

Yawning, Kageyama sat up to check the skies. They'd camped for the night in a small, squat building with a roof, and one mostly intact wall, and not much else in the way of protection from the elements. But after a glance out one of the glassless windows, he shook his head.

"No," he said, "those are just rain clouds."

Shouyou frowned. "What's that?"

"Ummm," Kageyama mumbled, laying his head back down on his bedroll, "really big shower."

Twenty minutes later the sky above opened up, thundering water down on the ground below. It dripped around them, through cracks in the roof onto the weathered floor of the little house, but fortunately, their sleeping space in the corner stayed dry.

Shouyou made a cacophony of excited, squawking noises, as Kageyama attempted to fall back asleep. "Is it dangerous?" the Vault Dweller asked.

"It's just water," Kageyama told him, eyes closed. But he opened them, when he heard feet scrabbling across floorboards, and there went Shouyou, flying out of the creaking old front door, nearly knocking the already precariously balanced thing off its hinges.

Kageyama rolled over onto his stomach, cheek pillowed on his arms so he could watch Shouyou through the old door frame, darting back and forth through the rain, leaping as high and hard as he could into the puddles beginning to gather. He shook his head lazily when Shouyou waved frantically at him, gesturing for him to come outside.

By the time Shouyou finally came back in, he was very nearly soaked, teeth chattering through his grin.

"It doesn't feel like it at first," he chirped, "but it gets cold after awhile!"

"You need to put on dry clothes," Kageyama said. "You're going to get sick, which will be a pain."

Shouyou stuck out his tongue. "I'll just get wet again when we start walking."

We're going to wait," Kageyama replied. "For the rain to stop."

He let his eyes drift closed as Shouyou did as he was told, still talking a mile a minute about how weird the rain was and how nice it felt and the different kinds of _pwaaash_ noises puddles made, depending on their depth.

"It makes a nice sound," Shouyou said, burrowing back into his bedroll. "Don't you think so?" Kageyama let out a noncommittal noise that still seemed to satisfy him. "I think this is the most fun I've ever had."

 _That's good,_ Kageyama would have said, but he was too drowsy, from the gentle rhythm of the rain. Shouyou began to hum one of the songs he liked from the radio, and this was the last thing Kageyama heard before falling asleep.

The last thing he thought was how strange it was, for anyone to think the Wasteland was "fun". But it was maybe even stranger, that Kageyama was beginning to find it not so bad himself.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [I'm [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


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